The importance of Inbox Zero
{This is a tricky subject so hear me out}
I believe in inbox zero.
Inbox zero means that when you finish your work day, you have no emails in your inbox.
Of course, you and I both know that doesn't stop emails from coming in while you're not watching, but that means that you have either responded to, deleted or triaged / planned around all emails by time you leave the workday. (And I do recommend leaving the workday at a certain point each day.)
I didn't used to believe in inbox zero. I used to think "well I'll just pick up where I left off yesterday."
But the emotional trigger on leaving an inbox full of emails that need addressing is that you can't walk away from your work. You're always tied into email and as soon as you walk in, you have a bunch of emails looking at you that you have to re-decide about.
Decision fatigue is hard enough in a world full of constant information. Don't decide on the same email twice or more. If that means taking an extra second before handling an email, or staring at that email for 30-60 seconds while contemplating your next move, then so be it. But don't just leave it there either unopened, unanswered or un-decided upon.
Take immediate action, clear the deck before you leave the day behind.
If you're thinking "I get way too many emails. There's no way I could do that." then I recommend the following steps:
- Note the categories of emails you get (work/client, marketing, personal, spam, other?)
- Anything that's spam, set up rules or filters to immediately drop them into the trash or a separate folder so they never hit your inbox
- Anything that's marketing (e.g. emails you're interested in, but don't require your response and exist for the purpose of getting you involved in something THEY'RE offering) should be auto-filtered to a MARKETING folder. I review this folder once every morning and it takes less than 5 minutes. All the products, services, webinars, sessions, conferences are reviewed in one context once per day. If I see something I like or have an interest in, I click through and as needed, add it to my calendar or take the next steps to register for an event, etc. It's critical that although these are not high-octane emails, that you are not addressing them as they come in. Review them in the context of "someone wants me to do their thing" all at once. It makes the decision making process much easier.
- Personal emails -- I don't give out my work email address to personal friends. End of story! The only person who has my work email is my husband. Here's why. A) if you change jobs, it's too risky that your personal emails will become discoverable to your now former coworkers and B) I personally prefer to keep my email tone the same across all emails in that context so there's no question of me sending too many exclamation points (as I am wont to do on personal emails) to a client.
- Now you're limited to work/client emails in your work inbox. Anything that's an automated/corporate email, filter those as well (particularly IT alerts -- I seem to get a lot of those that don't apply to me.) If you have a high-octane client that you know needs immediate attention, create a rule that does a popup when that client's email comes in. (Outlook and gmail can handle this).
- Don't engage in discussions back and forth and back and forth via email that are more efficient on the phone. (Pick up the phone and call.)
So, once you've done that, your inbox is much more manageable.
Spend the last 30 minutes of each day prepping the next work day, clearing out your inbox, and when you sign off, SIGN OFF. Enjoy the part of your life that's outside of your work.
xo
Chase
PS, I came across this Jose Andres quote today and I loved it:
"...if the only thing it requires to make things happen is that you stop talking and start doing, pfffff, then life is very simple!"
(source)
I believe in inbox zero.
Inbox zero means that when you finish your work day, you have no emails in your inbox.
Of course, you and I both know that doesn't stop emails from coming in while you're not watching, but that means that you have either responded to, deleted or triaged / planned around all emails by time you leave the workday. (And I do recommend leaving the workday at a certain point each day.)
I didn't used to believe in inbox zero. I used to think "well I'll just pick up where I left off yesterday."
But the emotional trigger on leaving an inbox full of emails that need addressing is that you can't walk away from your work. You're always tied into email and as soon as you walk in, you have a bunch of emails looking at you that you have to re-decide about.
Decision fatigue is hard enough in a world full of constant information. Don't decide on the same email twice or more. If that means taking an extra second before handling an email, or staring at that email for 30-60 seconds while contemplating your next move, then so be it. But don't just leave it there either unopened, unanswered or un-decided upon.
Take immediate action, clear the deck before you leave the day behind.
If you're thinking "I get way too many emails. There's no way I could do that." then I recommend the following steps:
- Note the categories of emails you get (work/client, marketing, personal, spam, other?)
- Anything that's spam, set up rules or filters to immediately drop them into the trash or a separate folder so they never hit your inbox
- Anything that's marketing (e.g. emails you're interested in, but don't require your response and exist for the purpose of getting you involved in something THEY'RE offering) should be auto-filtered to a MARKETING folder. I review this folder once every morning and it takes less than 5 minutes. All the products, services, webinars, sessions, conferences are reviewed in one context once per day. If I see something I like or have an interest in, I click through and as needed, add it to my calendar or take the next steps to register for an event, etc. It's critical that although these are not high-octane emails, that you are not addressing them as they come in. Review them in the context of "someone wants me to do their thing" all at once. It makes the decision making process much easier.
- Personal emails -- I don't give out my work email address to personal friends. End of story! The only person who has my work email is my husband. Here's why. A) if you change jobs, it's too risky that your personal emails will become discoverable to your now former coworkers and B) I personally prefer to keep my email tone the same across all emails in that context so there's no question of me sending too many exclamation points (as I am wont to do on personal emails) to a client.
- Now you're limited to work/client emails in your work inbox. Anything that's an automated/corporate email, filter those as well (particularly IT alerts -- I seem to get a lot of those that don't apply to me.) If you have a high-octane client that you know needs immediate attention, create a rule that does a popup when that client's email comes in. (Outlook and gmail can handle this).
- Don't engage in discussions back and forth and back and forth via email that are more efficient on the phone. (Pick up the phone and call.)
So, once you've done that, your inbox is much more manageable.
Spend the last 30 minutes of each day prepping the next work day, clearing out your inbox, and when you sign off, SIGN OFF. Enjoy the part of your life that's outside of your work.
xo
Chase
PS, I came across this Jose Andres quote today and I loved it:
"...if the only thing it requires to make things happen is that you stop talking and start doing, pfffff, then life is very simple!"
(source)
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